Kalatoa 100% Pure SD Retic Progression (Pic heavy...)

[jmcrook]

Caught her right as she began shedding this morning!



Fresh coat of paint and looking real nice!

Bring me rats, human!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sauzo]

Haha nice. And I actually do bet that is what she is thinking at the end picture lol. Caesar hasn't been poking his head out today. I fed him a small rat last night that Dottie didn't want and I think that pushed him into full mode shed. He's quiet and curled up inside his warm hide. Think Vicky is going into shed too as well as Luna and Rosey is almost out of shed. And Allison just shed. its pretty busy around here atm lol.

[jmcrook]

Well, Phyllis went back to her pushing, rambunctious self only 5 days after eating two small rats in the same sitting. Turned her cage upside down last night and has been pacing and staring at the doors today. Trying to resist power feeding her but that's about the only thing that keeps her relatively calm lol.
Smashing her face in the bottom edge of her cage... guess we're going back up to medium rats every 7 days. You called it Sauzo! This snake just needs to be in a persistent food coma. Also, she's reached 1179grams last I got her on the scale. I'd question her genetics if she wasn't from such a reputable breeder. I trust her background, probably should have tried a more maintenance feeding schedule early on. Who knows, that might have got her starting pushing earlier on for all I know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sauzo]

Haha funny picture. I'd guess her hunger is just her. Probably nothing you did to promote it. Caesar has kind of mellowed out so far. He did just shed, poop and pee though so who knows. He might go bonkers again. Right now he is relaxing behind a hide looking out front but I did have him out today running all over me while I spot cleaned his cage and then letting him run on the bed so he got his exercise for the day lol.

[jmcrook]

Yeah after a good poo Phyllis starts climbing the walls lol.
Yes, she just went in her hide, dug under it, and then resurfaced at the back of the cage. She's a maniac. She never acted like this until about a month after she was in the full 4'x2' cage footprint. She was in half a T8 for three months before that, and a 20L critter cage for 3ish months to start out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gio]

Yeah after a good poo Phyllis starts climbing the walls lol.
Yes, she just went in her hide, dug under it, and then resurfaced at the back of the cage. She's a maniac. She never acted like this until about a month after she was in the full 4'x2' cage footprint. She was in half a T8 for three months before that, and a 20L critter cage for 3ish months to start out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking good as always.

Have either of you installed actual REAL perches? Not just a shelf but perches. I think with some unique climbing options you'll see less pushing. I let my coastal have horizontal and vertical style perches. She loves using them.

Wallace is pretty much out of quarantine now and just finished his second shed here. I'm guess he's closing in a on 4 feet long, maybe a tad under but I'm going to be moving hime to the 48" x 24" x 14" cage soon. He'll have a lot of fun in there.

I'm very happy with his food schedule. He's already gone 12 days without any urges to eat and now the shed is over he's getting 2 chicks.

His final cage will be 6 feet x 30 inches deep and 24 inches high. I'll have naturalistic branches and a ton of goods to keep him busy. I'm still looking at AP caging but will likely go MONSTER for a lot less $$.

Phyllis is looking great and so is the setup!

[jmcrook]

Looking good as always.

Have either of you installed actual REAL perches? Not just a shelf but perches. I think with some unique climbing options you'll see less pushing. I let my coastal have horizontal and vertical style perches. She loves using them.

Wallace is pretty much out of quarantine now and just finished his second shed here. I'm guess he's closing in a on 4 feet long, maybe a tad under but I'm going to be moving hime to the 48" x 24" x 14" cage soon. He'll have a lot of fun in there.

I'm very happy with his food schedule. He's already gone 12 days without any urges to eat and now the shed is over he's getting 2 chicks.

His final cage will be 6 feet x 30 inches deep and 24 inches high. I'll have naturalistic branches and a ton of goods to keep him busy. I'm still looking at AP caging but will likely go MONSTER for a lot less $$.

Phyllis is looking great and so is the setup!

Thanks Gio! Nah, haven't tried real perches yet as the cage is only 12" tall. Not really any room for shelves or perches of any sort. Her next cage will be at least 18" tall for sure, maybe 24". I just can't let myself drop the money on a 6' wide cage yet and also don't really have the space for one right now. I almost think she'd be good in a 4'x2'x2' or 48"x30"x18" but I don't want to make that investment and then watch her have a 3' growth spurt and be too big for it ya know? But yeah, I agree climbing options will probably deter some pushing. In hindsight I'm wishing I had started her in something taller. I'm fairly handy and could build a good size cage relatively easily but there's something nice about the CNC routered AP cage design and options that I really enjoy. Hmmm... decisions decisions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sauzo]

Nah, I just use the shelf. Caesar doesn't push anymore. I think the almost 2 months of aggressive feeding has mellowed him out a lot. He has filled out nicely and is more of the lounge retic now lol. He's shed 3 times now and I figure he is at least as long as his T10 if not a bit longer now.

I've decided to push him out to every 7 days on his feedings now.

I'll end up getting him a T25 like the boas but for right now, the T10 is perfect for him. I personally love the AP cages. I just ordered a stand from them as I stacked my 3 T10s and now the top one I need a chair to clean it lol. So once the stand gets here, i'll be able to set it up and then have a nice spot next to that stack for a stack of 3 T25s.

I think you will need a 6' cage Jmcrook. I mean yours is a female so I would guess she will get around 10'. Kris said my male should live in a T10 his whole life and be fine but I think i'm going to get him the 72x30x18 T25 anyways but unless he makes some monster growth between now and spring time when I order the cages, I will be getting the Vicky one first. Rosey is for sure getting one first and foremost as she is my biggest. Then its a race between who gets the 2nd one and the 3rd one will come end of summer.

As for the pushing, I honestly don't think its a shelf or perch issue. I mean you see all these videos of guys with big retics in 8' cages with no shelf or perch and they are fine and quiet. I think its just food driven or improper cage temps/humidity etc. But I think Jmcrook has his cage set up good. I think his girl just wants food to grow and her pushing is her trying to "find" food since she cant slither all over like in the wild hunting for dinner. Like I said, Caesar went through his phase of going bonkers for food and anything that moved. He also shed 3 times in just under 2 months and close to doubled his size. Now though he is mellowed out like I said and still looks at movement but doesn't come charging it like before. Although last night he did come straight to the glass doors when I wiggled a wadded up white paper towel lol. Think he thought it was a rat haha. Then when he saw it wasn't dinner, he wandered off and sat half on top of his hide.

[jmcrook]

I think you will need a 6' cage Jmcrook. I mean yours is a female so I would guess she will get around 10'. Kris said my male should live in a T10 his whole life and be fine but I think i'm going to get him the 72x30x18 T25 anyways but unless he makes some monster growth between now and spring time when I order the cages, I will be getting the Vicky one first. Rosey is for sure getting one first and foremost as she is my biggest. Then its a race between who gets the 2nd one and the 3rd one will come end of summer.

As for the pushing, I honestly don't think its a shelf or perch issue. I mean you see all these videos of guys with big retics in 8' cages with no shelf or perch and they are fine and quiet. I think its just food driven or improper cage temps/humidity etc. But I think Jmcrook has his cage set up good. I think his girl just wants food to grow and her pushing is her trying to "find" food since she cant slither all over like in the wild hunting for dinner.

Yep, I think you and Gio are both totally on point. If she had stayed in her parents size range she could probably live her life in a 4' cage. Technically she probably still could but she's so active I would feel bad doing that to what will eventually/likely be an 8-9'+ snake.
I also think you hit the nail on the head about her hunting. After all she is 1st generation captive bred from wild caught Kalatoa parents and most definitely has a bit of wild instinct in her. A lot of those giant retics staying calm in an 8' cage are pretty deep into captive generations of bloodlines and I'm guessing are much more chill as a result of having some of the wildness bred out of them. Aside from needing more height, Phyllis has a pretty plush pad lol. 65% humidity, 87* warm side, 75-79* cool side, two hides (that she never uses except to push all over the place) a couple branches to crawl around on (and also just bulldozes them all over along with her water bowl while pushing at the cage.)
I may just bite the bullet and order a T20/T25 and then have time to wait for it to be ready. Might also be worth a 4 hour drive from mid Missouri to Iowa to avoid the freight shipping. I'm sorta torn between the T20-25 because the 25 is $40 less but also a half a foot shorter but half a foot deeper. I'm feel like added height would be beneficial but also more air space to heat. I could definitely make a super stimulating and awesome looking display cage with a climbing/perch/jungle gym for her in a 24" tall cage that I feel she would use. I feel like I'm back at square one now trying to accommodate for her crazy growth rate lol. I was prepared to accept an 8-10' adult size snake just not quite this quick haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sauzo]

I would definitely go for the floor space vs the height. 18" is a good height, enough room for a shelf and whatever else plus easy enough to heat. You can never have enough floor space though lol.